How many miles until your original alternator and/or starter failed? - Page 2 - Toyota 4Runner Forum

wrpsuite · 04-18-2022, 08:38 PM

Must have been around 180k my battery light was staying on but had good voltage and was charging/ cranking fine. After a bunch of testing and my mechanic repeating ‘probably a bad voltage regulator’ I changed it with a denso and moved on.

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Kbuch1 · 04-18-2022, 08:55 PM

Very timely message.
Any shop recommendations near Homewood, AL?
My daughter’s 2000 limited has a starter issue approx 245K miles currently and she is a student at Samford. Replaced the alternator earlier this year.
I have the contact parts for the starter but can’t get down there until next weekend at the earliest for her graduation.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thank you

shadow247 · 04-19-2022, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unner

OEM starter failed around 135k according to the PO. They replaced with a cheap Chinese one that failed around 240k. It failed due to moisture getting in and corrosion. Not the normal copper contact wear. I put a denso unit in at that time.

The OEM alternator failed at 170k. I stupidly put an advance auto lifetime warranty one in and sent the denso in as a core. The "lifetime warranty" one failed at 206k. I put another "lifetime warranty" one in and it failed at 219k. At that point the manager at advance was nice enough to give me a credit for the lifetime one towards a denso one. The denso is still going strong at 291k now.

Moral of the story. Only put denso/Toyota parts in these rigs when it comes to starters and alternators. Better yet rebuild them yourself like Tim showed above. They're critical parts that fail fast when they do and will leave you stranded.

The cheap Chinese starter nearly left me stranded in death valley. I started noticing issues there with it not turning over the first time or two. Then once in Beatty, NV filling up with gas it refused to start. I finally got it to start and didn't shut it off but 3 more times for the rest of the trip home from DV to Alabama. Not the safest thing, but it got me home. The next morning it would not start at all. The starter had died completely...

No worries running your vehicle for hours on end. When I do a full day of trails, I will often start my truck 1st thing in the morning, and not turn it off until I am done for the day. I think the longest I have ever run my truck without turning it off was about 7 hours...

island_runner · 04-19-2022, 10:38 AM

My original alternator made it to just over 200K miles. I am not the original owner of my 3rd Gen, but I love every bit of it!

Spiker Engineering · 04-19-2022, 04:26 PM

I'm still on original for both of these, but being at 208K and seeing all the feedback here, I think I'll replace the starter contacts and plunger proactively - that way I can control when I do it, as opposed to being stranded somewhere. I'll get the OEM parts, hard to go wrong for $25.

melt757 · 04-19-2022, 05:18 PM

222,000 miles probably original starter and alternator. Bought the vehicle with 100,000 miles.

diverscale · 04-19-2022, 06:39 PM

280K and still original alternator and starter.

Took note of Tim's rebuild video of the alternator brushes, this could easily end up saving us money in the near future.

DAW89446 · 04-19-2022, 07:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by octanejunkie

Saw this in the 4th gen section, seemed like a good idea

And what did you replace it with? New or rebuilt OEM, or some other brand?

I own a 5th gen, but it replaced a ‘02 Tacoma TRD 4x4 which my son still owns. Since the 3rd gen T4R is based on the Tacoma I figure it applies.

Short answer, I never replaced either because neither failed. The truck has 210,000 miles, a high percentage of which was on challenging off road trails. The only repair work was the required timing belt/water pump replacements, a torn steering rack boot (snagged on a pine tree branch in the trail) and spark plugs. Still runs the OEM clutch, still on the original AC freon charge, still has all OEM bulbs except one license plate and one taillight bulbs. It’s been a super truck since I drove it home new from the lot in June, 2002.

TucsonMike · 04-19-2022, 10:04 PM

284k on original alternator and starter. Did do the starter contacts around 220k. Still running strong

MikeM

Unner · 04-19-2022, 10:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shadow247

No worries running your vehicle for hours on end. When I do a full day of trails, I will often start my truck 1st thing in the morning, and not turn it off until I am done for the day. I think the longest I have ever run my truck without turning it off was about 7 hours...

Yeah I wasn't worried about that, but rather pumping gas with the truck running and that sort of thing. I know I see people do it all the time now it seems, but I still don't like doing that. I think from OKC to back home was about 11 hours the truck ran non-stop because I was worried the starter wouldn't work again, and my suspicion was confirmed the next morning

octanejunkie · 04-19-2022, 11:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shadow247

No worries running your vehicle for hours on end. When I do a full day of trails, I will often start my truck 1st thing in the morning, and not turn it off until I am done for the day. I think the longest I have ever run my truck without turning it off was about 7 hours...

I used to drive to Reno/Tahoe from SoCal on a regular basis, 8 hours each way in favorable conditions, sometimes longer. I rarely shut the truck down unless I stopped and went inside somewhere along the way.

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octanejunkie · 04-19-2022, 11:19 PM

I guess it's my turn as the thread starter.

2WD
My starter took a crap while on a family trip, I had to have it replaced.and lost my OEM starter on that trip, that was at 190K.

I thought I was losing my alternator at ~245K so I went and pulled an OEM alt and starter in a junkyard. Had both tested at a parts store, good. Swapped the alternator and after a month, same symptoms. Turns out the harness plug was gunked up and not making contact. Cleaned that up and now it's good, spare alt on the shelf.

4WD
Truck is new to me at 245K and both the alternator and starter look to have been replaced with parts store units before my ownership. I have Toyota units on the shelf when needed but I'm not sure when their predecessors failed.

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96RedRunner · 04-19-2022, 11:55 PM

96Red starter solenoid rebuild 250k or so, replaced after tropical storm parked @3' above sea level
got me halfway home 345k.
Alt original fair amount of winch use had it whining at times loading it up 374k.
Current Runner 01 224k both original.

bmason8159 · 04-20-2022, 08:34 PM

Not sure if it was oem but I had to replace the starter at about 180k and my battery light came on and the lights all dimmed for about a half hour so I guess the alternator is going at 226k

3bears · 12-24-2023, 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bmason8159

Not sure if it was oem but I had to replace the starter at about 180k and my battery light came on and the lights all dimmed for about a half hour so I guess the alternator is going at 226k

I have no idea if mine is original, but I have all the records from previous 2 owners ( Im#4) and past 12 or so years and no indication of a starter being done. But I am starting to have intermittent problems, so schedule for a replacement. In winter,..minus 28 the other day,,,,no garage so will pay to have done as I sure dont need starter issues in winter in alaska, and keep the core if its a denso. Currently at around 240k.
Replaced alternator with a denso last fall, as it had a bearing noise and I did not want to dig deeper than brushes. kept the core.

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